Shannon Sharpe Apologizes After Heated Exchange at Lakers Game Goes Viral: 'I Was Absolutely Wrong'
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Shannon Sharpe is saying sorry.
On Monday's episode of FS1's Undisputed, the Hall of Fame NFL tight end who co-hosts the show with analyst Skip Bayless, offered an apology to the members of the Memphis Grizzlies after he argued with them during their game against the L.A. Lakers on Friday night.
"I take full responsibility for what transpired. It does not matter what Dillon Brooks said or how many times he said it," Sharpe said on the show. "Me being the responsible person, me having the platform I have, and having so many people look up to me, I was wrong. I should have lowered the temperature in the arena. Instead, I turned the temperature up, and I let it get out of hand."
During the exchange, which can be seen in this NSFW video here, Sharpe rose from his courtside seat to trash-talk some of the players, who returned comments in response.
"I've preached for six-and-a-half years responsibility and accountability, and I take full responsibility for what transpired," the 54-year-old said on Monday. "It does not matter what Dillon Brooks said or how many times he said it, me being the responsible person, me having the platform that I have, and having so many people look up to me, I was wrong."
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"I should have lowered the temperature in the arena," he added. "Instead, I turned the temperature up, and I let it get out of hand."
Sharpe and Ja Morant's father, Tee Morant, was also filmed exchanging words, but the two appeared to settle their differences later during the game when they embraced.
Sharpe's apology is a far cry from his comments about the incident to ESPN's Dave McMenamin later that night.
"They didn't want this smoke, Dave. They do all that talking and jockeying, and I ain't about that jockeying," he said at the time. "It started with Dillon Brooks. I said he was too small to guard LeBron. He said, 'F— me.' I said, 'F— you' back."
He added: "He started to come at me, and I said, 'You don't want these problems.' And then Ja came out of nowhere talking. He definitely didn't want these problems. Then the dad came, and he obviously didn't want no problems."
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During the Undisputed episode, Sharpe addressed his regret that his grandson may one day see footage of his altercation with the players.
"One day, you're going to be old enough, and you're going to see what transpired in that arena," he said.
"But I also hope you get an opportunity to see this apology that I'm giving because I was wrong, and I'm never going to be too big to say I'm sorry. I'm never going to be too big to say that I was wrong in that situation. I was absolutely wrong."
